Embroidery Bureau.
The wanted posters on the notice wall drew wave after wave of onlookers.
“Recently, a criminal in Luojing has consecutively murdered three women, flaying their faces and embroidering pictures with golden thread.
Anyone who can see through the mystery in the pictures will be rewarded a thousand taels of silver.
“In addition, those who provide clues about the female prisoner from the Stone Prison will be rewarded two hundred and fifty taels.”
The onlookers pointed and gossiped, their spit mixing with the drizzle, rising and falling in waves.
“Flaying faces alive, that’s too evil.
Families with daughters should quickly pray for an Amulet…”
“A thousand taels of reward silver!
One wouldn’t have to worry for the rest of their life…”
Outside the crowd, a plain paper umbrella was pressed extremely low, revealing only a section of a fair chin.
The young woman’s voice was not loud, but it was like beads of ice dropping into a boiling pan of oil, suppressing the noisy clamor of the crowd.
“Ridiculous!
Wielding a knife but stabbing the wrong place.”
Everyone turned their heads.
The edge of the umbrella was raised slightly, revealing a clear and stunningly beautiful face.
Under the winter sky, those lips were moist and full, and the jawline was soft yet sharp, thirty percent more beautiful than the daughters of wealthy families.
“Has this little miss seen through the trick?” someone jeered, teasing her.
“Tell us about it.
A thousand taels of reward, share a piece of the pie with us.”
The young woman stepped forward generously, pointing at the picture on the notice.
“Flaying the skin and leaving an embroidery isn’t because he’s afraid of being seen, it’s because he’s afraid of not being seen.
The criminal went to such great lengths not to kill, but to match the pieces together.
The one he is baiting is the person who holds the complete picture.”
“Then what about that female escapee from the Stone Prison?
If she is the murderer—”
“If she were the murderer?” The young woman tilted her head, her face serious.
“Why wouldn’t she run away immediately after escaping?
Instead, she’s murdering and flaying people in Luojing.
What, is she trying to hone her craft enough to open an embroidery shop?”
Laughter erupted from the crowd.
“What a sharp tongue!”
“Little girl, are you here to ruin the show?”
The young woman smiled.
“Investigating a case is like castrating an animal; you always have to grasp the vitals to sever the root.
Instead of wasting time posting notices and decoding pictures, the Embroidery Bureau might as well investigate what incredible secrets are hidden on the three deceased.”
“Castrating animals?
Does a little miss like you understand this?”
“My father is a castrator.” She was very open, declaring her background.
“He specializes in severing the roots of beasts.”
The few jeering men suddenly fell silent.
Some subconsciously clamped their legs together.
The young woman turned to leave.
At some unknown point, a carriage with vermilion shafts and a green canopy had stopped behind her.
A corner of the carriage curtain was lifted by the wind, revealing the face of a young man.
Dressed in white with a jade crown, his features were stunningly clear, like the accumulated snow on the Western Hills in the twelfth lunar month—truly handsome, but also truly cold.
He did not speak.
A man who looked like a guard immediately approached and said in a low voice, “Miss, the Princely Heir invites you to the government office for a chat.”
Princely Heir?
The crowd instantly quieted down.
In Luojing, the only person who could awe people with the title of Princely Heir was Xie Chen.
He was the legitimate eldest son of the current Regent, Prince of Nine Bestowments Xie Pingzhang.
He could recite poetry at three, compose poems at seven, entered the Military Equipment Supervisor to temper himself at the age of fifteen, took charge of the Twelve Guards of the Capital at twenty, and concurrently managed the military administration of the Capital.
He was the top young lord in the hearts of countless noble ladies in Luojing.
Such a lofty Young Master actually wanted to invite a castrator’s daughter into the hall to discuss a case?
The young woman glanced at the carriage, but she said something that made everyone’s jaws drop.
“The government office is a heavily guarded place.
I do not dare to enter without permission.”
She gave a slight curtsy and straightened up, neither servile nor overbearing.
“Those few sentences just now were merely for the thrill of a sharp tongue.
If the Young Master takes them seriously, then he thinks too highly of me.”
After speaking, she squeezed through the crowd and left without looking back.
The carriage curtain fell.
Behind the curtain, Xie Chen’s fingertip tapped against the window frame.
“Follow her.”
In the attic across the street, a half-window was pushed open.
Xie Yunjin leaned against the window, a Moxu cloak draped casually over his shoulders.
His entire person seemed to melt into the shadows of the rain, his emotions indiscernible.
“Second Master.” The guard Ying Qi lowered his voice.
“The Princely Heir has sent someone to follow Miss Shen.”
“Let him follow.” Xie Yunjin rubbed a Jade Button between his fingertips; the jade was warm, but the man was cold.
“Only a little fox flashing her claws can hook my ascetic, good brother…”
“But if the Princely Heir investigates her…”
“He won’t find anything.” Xie Yunjin smiled faintly, the Jade Button stopping between his fingers.
“Her registry has been changed, and her old neighbors have relocated.
There is no longer a Wei Yinzhao in this world, only Shen Ci’er.”
“Then why did Second Master go through so much trouble to fish her out of the Stone Prison, altering her face and forging her registry, going around in such a huge circle, just to have her get close to the Young Master?”
Xie Yunjin shot him a glance.
Ying Qi immediately shut his mouth.
Downstairs, the young woman holding the umbrella suddenly stopped in her tracks, lifted her head, and cast her gaze accurately toward the attic.
The rain and mist were hazy, making her expression unclear, but one could vaguely sense that the corners of her mouth curved up.
It looked like a smile, but also not quite.
Ying Qi was so startled he took a step back.
“Second Master, she’s looking at you!”
Xie Yunjin gathered the Jade Button into his palm and gave a low chuckle.
“Naughty.”